Mysteries Part I: The Surprise Ending

How many of you love a good mystery? Maybe you have read the Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books or some of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries. Maybe you hope to write a great mystery novel someday.

A good mystery is difficult to develop. In general fiction you have to maintain consistency with your viewpoint, your characters, and your tone. You must make sure that the plot develops at the right speed and that you provide enough description without overwhelming your reader. On top of all that, if you’re writing a mystery, you have to be sure that you give the reader enough clues to keep him fascinated without giving too much away too soon. All the details and dialogue and facts must add up to a logical and satisfying ending.

Many mysteries have a twist or surprise at the end. A good surprise ending is especially tricky to write. To illustrate this, let’s say we have a test subject named Rita. We are going to give her two mystery novels—one with a good surprise ending and one with a not-so-good ending.

Not-so-good ending

When Rita finishes the novel with the not-so-great ending, she thinks, “This book is so confusing. I don’t understand how the thief could have been Paul, when all the facts pointed to Amy. It doesn’t make logical sense.”

Good ending

When Rita finishes the novel with the good ending, she thinks, “This book was great! The ending totally surprised me, but I can see how all the clues fit together. I wonder if I can find more books by the same author?”

In the not-so-great book, the author tried too hard to surprise Rita. He chose such a strange “surprise” ending that he confused and frustrated her. She didn’t like the book because the ending didn’t make sense with the rest of the plot.

In the book with the good ending, the author planned the end before he even wrote the beginning. He wove all the clues together carefully so that when Rita came to the surprise twist, she was excited and interested. The ending made sense to her. Even though it was a surprise, it fit smoothly with the rest of the book.

A mystery writer cannot throw logic out the window and still have a good surprise ending. All the clues and plot threads have to make sense so that your reader will exclaim, “Wow, that was a cool twist! I should have seen that coming!”

To learn about writing surprise endings, ask a parent or teacher to recommend some stories and books with interesting twists at the end. Check some of these books out of the library. As you read each one, ask yourself some questions:

> How did the author reveal clues throughout the plot?

> How did the ending make you feel? Was it satisfying? Confusing? Surprising?

> If you were writing the book, what would you change? What would you keep the same?

 

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